Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vision system for an aircraft, comprising:
a display;
an assembly for generating a synthetic environment, the generating assembly including a database, containing at least topographical information relative to the terrain situated facing the aircraft;
a display management system, on the display, capable of dynamically displaying synthetic information coming from the generating assembly on the display.
Description of the Related Art
Such a system is designed to be installed in the cockpit of an aircraft to be associated with a display of the cockpit. The display is for example an at least partially transparent display, such as a semitransparent screen placed in front of the windshield of the cockpit, a system for projecting images on the windshield of the cockpit, a semitransparent sunshade, a helmet visor, or semitransparent glasses close to the eye.
Alternatively, the display is a head-down screen integrated into the dashboard of the cockpit.
To facilitate piloting the aircraft, and to give the pilot overall information on the structure of the terrain situated facing the aircraft, it is known to generate synthetic images of the countryside situated in front of the aircraft, in particular from topographical databases, based on the current position of the aircraft determined by the aircraft's navigation system.
The synthetic images are representative of the environment situated in front of the airplane, as it may be observed through the windshield by a pilot in the cockpit. These synthetic images generally comprise a synthetic surface representation of the terrain.
These images substantially fill the entire screen.
Such a vision system allows the pilot to visualize the relief that may be located in front of the aircraft, in particular when visibility is low or nonexistent.
Such vision systems provide substantial assistance to pilots, but are sometimes inaccurate, in light of possible errors in the positioning of the aircraft and/or in the topographical data available in the databases. It is therefore necessary to have, in parallel, a real vision of the environment located outside the aircraft.
To that end, enhanced vision systems (EVS) have been developed.
These systems generally comprise a camera placed onboard in the bay of the aircraft. The camera, which for example includes sensors operating in the infrared, improves the visibility in front of the aircraft, by detecting the terrain and all structures present on the terrain, for example such as lights present on the runway or around the runway, in particular approach ramp lights.
Based on the image data collected by the camera, a real image of the environment present in front of the aircraft is obtained.
Such vision systems therefore make it possible to confirm the position of the runway relative to the aircraft and/or relative to the environment, and facilitate the pilot's decision when he reaches the decision altitude, at which he must choose whether or not to continue landing.
Hybrid vision systems have also been developed. These systems display both a first region comprising a completely synthetic image, and a second region comprising a real image obtained from an enhanced vision system comprising an infrared camera.
The existing vision systems are effective, but have some drawbacks. Thus, when a synthetic image occupies the screen partially or completely, it sometimes conceals the actual details of the terrain situated behind the image, in particular when the visibility in front of the aircraft is good.
Likewise, in devices making it possible to display a real image, obtained from a camera, the type of image obtained may not be clear enough for the pilot, and may lead to concealing certain important details from the pilot, in particular in terms of the relief.